HOUSTON — Rice closes the regular season this Saturday, Mar. 3, when it hosts UTSA. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed ESPN3. Seniors Bishop Mency and J.T. Trauber will be honored before the game.

Scouting Rice • Rice is 7-23 on the year and 4-13 in Conference USA. The Owls have won two of its last three after defeating UTEP on Thursday, 76-70. • Junior guard Connor Cashaw is averaging 15.8 points per game and is eighth in the league in rebounding (7.0). He also leads the team with 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals, one of just six players in the country to lead the team in all four categories. • Sophomore guard Ako Adams is second on the team with 10.4 points while grabbing 2.6 boards. He is also second on the team with 3.2 assists. • Freshman Malik Osborne is second on the team in rebounding with 6.5 boards while adding 9.0 points. • The Owls are averaging 68.5 points per game while allowing 75.6. • Rice is connecting on just 40.8% from the floor and 32.1% from three. Its opponents are shooting 44.6% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc. • The Owls are being outrebounded, 37.3-to-36.7. • Head coach Scott Pera is in his first season leading the Rice men’s basketball program after serving its last three years as its Associate Head Coach.

Scouting UTSA • UTSA enters tonight’s game with a 17-13 record and 10-7 in Conference USA. The Roadrunner had their three-game winning streak snapped Thursday night, falling at North Texas, 80-62. • Freshman guard Jhivvan Jackson is fifth in Conference USA with 18.4 points and 2.7 three-pointers made per game. He is also grabbing 3.2 rebounds. However, Jackson is out for the season after suffering an injury last Saturday. • Freshman guard Keaton Wallace is UTSA’s active leading scorer with 11.2 points per game. • Junior guard Deon Lyle is averaging 10.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He is fourth in the league in both three-point field goal percentage (.447) and three-pointers made per game (2.7). • Junior forward Nick Allen is seventh in field goal percentage (.529) and sophomore forward Byron Frohnen is ninth in rebounding (6.9). • UTSA is third in the conference in scoring with 78.8 points while allowing 75.7. • The Roadrunners are connecting on 43.5% from the field and 36.2% from three. Their opponents are connecting on just 42.1% from the floor, which is third in the league, but 35.7% from beyond the arc. • UTSA leads C-USA in rebounding with 40.1 boards per game while allowing 38.1. • The Roadrunners also lead the conference in three-pointers per game with 10.2. • Head coach Steve Henson is in his second season at the helm of the UTSA men’s basketball program, where he holds a 31-32 (.492) record.

Series History • Rice and UTSA will meet for the second time this year and the 13th time overall. • UTSA holds a 7-5 lead in the series and has won two of the last three meetings. • The teams also met on Dec. 28 in San Antonio with the Owls falling, 79-66. • Rice leads the series 4-2 in games played in Houston and has won the last two and three of the last four.

Next Up • With a win and a UTEP loss, Rice will advance to the Conference USA Tournament in Frisco, Texas. The Owls would face the fifth-seed on Wednesday, Mar. 7, at 6:30 p.m. The game will be livestreamed on Facebook.